The invention relates to the technical field of dispensing machines for tissue-paper or similar type wipe materials intended for wiping the hands or toilet paper, the strip of material being folded or not folded.
The Applicant has developed numerous automatic and semi-automatic versions of dispensing machines of this type.
The dispensing machines are of the type comprising a housing (1) capable of accommodating a swivel cover (3). The housing accommodates end shields (2) that support a reel holder (4) of wipe material in its upper part. In the lower part, a drum (5) is rotatably mounted with said end shields and is devised to accommodate the cutting device (6). The drum may be designed so that one of its ends has a cam (7) associated with a start and return. spring (8) one end (8a) of which is attached to a finger (7a) associated with the cam and the other end (8b) of which is associated with a fixed part of one of the lateral end shields (2) of the housing. Generally speaking, in the lower part of the machine and towards the front facing the drum, there is a hinged protection flap (9) suitable to prevent entry of the user""s hands and any unwanted contact with the cutting device. A pressure roller (10) is located between the end shields of the housing and rests against the drum. The strip of material paid out from the reel is inserted between said drum and said pressure roller.
The machine is loaded on an ad hoc basis because service operators tasked with servicing and maintenance do not always wait for reels of material to be almost exhausted and this involves considerable wastage because operators even change reels that are not finished up in order to prevent machines becoming out of order.
In order to avoid the machine becoming unavailable because the reel of material has been exhausted, the Applicant has already proposed, in prior embodiments, the possibility of an operator taking a service roll that has not been used up and placing it at the rear of the drum in the bottom of the housing and fitting a fresh reel on the reel holder with a spare roll. In order to ensure finishing of the service roll, the drum was devised with means of directing the strip of material towards the area where it was transported by the drum. In implementing this, the Applicant envisaged designing the cover (3) of the machine with a horizontally arranged bar-shape at a certain height on the cover so that, when the cover was closed, it would come into contact with the end of the strip of material from the spare roll and guide it towards the transport and insertion area between the drum and the pressure component.
This embodiment, although satisfactory, nevertheless involves dispensing, for the specific period of time that it takes to finish up the service roll, two strips of paper, one from the service roll located at the bottom of the machine and another from the spare roll.
This embodiment is relatively impractical for such a loading operation.
The Applicant""s Patent FR 2751316 discloses a machine of the above-mentioned type which includes a hinged flap located in front of the drum with a swivelling profiled plate behind the drum being capable of supporting the service roll as it is being used up, said plate co-operating with a mechanism capable of locking said flap in position when a spare roll is being loaded and positioning the service roll so that it can be finished up.
The purpose sought after according to the invention was therefore to overcome these drawbacks by suggesting a simple solution by initiating dispensing of the material from the spare roll only once the service roll had been exhausted.
According to a first aspect of the invention, the device for inserting a strip of material in a dispensing machine for material wipes of the type comprising a housing and a cover, the housing having end shields that support a reel holder, a drum with a cutting device with the drum including a cam associated with a start and return spring, a protection flap being provided in front of the drum and with a pressure roller resting against the drum, is distinctive in that the protection flap has an upper extension forming a support frame devised to accommodate a secondary hinged flap and in that a swivelling shaped plate is located behind the drum and is capable of supporting the service roll that is in the process of being finished up and in that said plate co-operates with a mechanism capable of locking the secondary flap in position in situations where the spare roll is being loaded and the service roll is being fitted so that it can be finished up.
These aspects and others will be apparent from the rest of the description.